I appreciate it. I do have some questions. Where can I find you later?” Ty continued.
Again, Adam cast a glance in Dani's direction. She gave him an almost imperceptible nod. She trusted Adam.
“Here or downstairs. If you can't find me, ask Marmie. She always knows where I am.”
Adam rose from his perch, thumbed through some papers and then straightened. “Well, we're running some numbers downstairs so I guess I'll see you around. Good to see you Dani,” he added as he disappeared down the hall.
“Nice meeting you Detective Fuller,” Marmie said as she turned back to her computer, dismissing them.
“We have a couple more people to meet,” Dani said.
While her team had been a team for a long time, they didn't usually work in the same proximity. It did happen on occasion, but much of what they did could be done from remote locations, leaving just the field agents on the ground. But that wasn't the way the DEA operated, so here they all were. Keeping up appearances. It made for long introductions, but if Dani were pressed, she'd admit it was kind of nice to be surrounded by everyone. Especially on this case. They weren't all personally friendly, but she didn't doubt for a second that everyone in the house would have her back if needed.
“This way.” As Dani ushered Ty out of the room, she recognized the look of interest in his expression. His eyes were sweeping the room, taking it all in. And judging by his wry comments, her unspoken communication with Marmie and Adam hadn't gone unnoticed either.
She walked ahead of him through the enormous main hall of the house in silence, cursing the fates again, whatever their names were, for throwing a man like Ty onto this case. He wasn't going to miss a thing.
“What was that look about?” he asked, as if to prove her point.
“Nothing,” she responded, climbing the stairs to the second floor.
“Liar.”
“I wouldn't want to disappoint you. I am a federal agent.”
“So federal agents lie?”
“Doesn't matter if we do or don't, the locals always think we do anyway. Right?”
“Just as often as you feds think the locals are backward yokels unable to grasp simple concepts—like the fact that there is more to this case than you're letting on. Agent,” he added.
Dani could argue with him, but it wasn't worth the effort. If he'd already figured out there was more to it than Getz and Eagle's Wing, she was better off not saying much of anything at all. That there was a chance the investigation might surface some facts about the weapons everyone in the broader US intelligence world would want to keep a lid on was paramount. As for her, this case was the case she'd been waiting for her whole career, it was her reason for joining the CIA in the first place. She wasn't going to let anyone or anything interfere with it—including Ty. And neither of those aspects of the investigation were anything she or the team wanted to share with anyone.
Under normal circumstances, it wouldn't have been an issue. Jurisdictional courtesy between the DEA and the local law enforcement was encouraged but not required. And sharing wasn't all that big with the CIA either. But, in this situation, they didn't have a choice. Playing nice with the locals was the price her team paid to the DEA team who would have handled the case if CIA hadn't taken over. If they weren't going to get the credit, Drew had to at least agree to preserve their relationship with Portland PD.
With a renewed focus and plan, Dani sighed. Glancing at her watch, she wondered how long she'd have to shuffle him around before he settled somewhere and she could get away from him. And it didn't escape her that this sentiment was a far cry from less than twenty-four hours ago, when she couldn't seem to get enough of him. If she let herself, she might even start to feel a bit schizophrenic about it.
“Earth to Dani,” Ty's voice came from behind her.
“Hmm?” she turned and looked at him over her shoulder.
“I asked where we're going? Since you don't seem interested in telling me what's going on inside that head of yours, I might as well meet everyone and see if someone might find me useful.”
She wanted to say, “Don't count on it,” but held her tongue. Her team was top notch and didn't tend to take to outsiders. Trusting someone from the outside, even if they were